Volunteers Please

Lend a Hand and Have Some Fun!

Not any bike, but a bike with four wheels; a 1900 Humber quadricycle and a rarity
restored by the Friends. Ian spends as much time as family commitments
allow restoring items for the Museum. Also now a self taught signwriter
- there are hundreds of signwriting and painting jobs to do for the Friends'
workshop projects. He is also the Newsletter Editor.

So what does Ian get out of it?

"As an active Friends' volunteer I get immense satisfaction as long neglected
objects are conserved and restored to their former glory. However a greater
reward is received seeing the delight on visitors faces as they marvel at
the same objects and become involved in the magic of Beamish."

Restoration Workshop Volunteers.

The Friends have many restoration projects in hand in the Friends' Workshop and are always looking for volunteers from all walks of life and experience. Traditional techniques are encouraged in all the work and volunteers benefit by getting away from the stress of modern day life and enjoying the spirit and fellowship of the skilled craftsmen of the past.

Motor Cycles Always in Demand.

The Friends often show restored motor cycles at outside events and on site at Beamish. We are always
keen to hear from others interested in these classic machines. Some Bikes
are owned by the Friend volunteers themselves.

Lend a Hand and Have Fun at the Same Time.

If you live locally you could be a great help to the Friends.
Volunteers are always wanted. Here are just a few of the areas volunteers work in.

Just Sew Sew?

If you are competent with needlework, then we need volunteers to help with the textile collection. A small team of people is required to make cloth storage bags and to make up padded coat hangers etc. to help with the better storage of the collection.

Resourceful?

There are tasks in the Regional Resource Centre at Foulbridge, with which you may be able to help if you care to get involved. May involve computer data recording or other tasks as required by the Museum.

Visitor Surveys.

The visitor survey team of Friend volunteers is in full swing again, talking to
a random selection of visitors to find out what they think about their visit.
This is another area of work where you can help if you have some time to give
and enjoy meeting people.

Get on Your Bike!.

We often publicise the Museum and the Friends. Many volunteers enjoy exercising bicycles from the extensive Beamish collections.

External Events

These events are an opportunity to tell people about the Museum and the Friends and to enrol members. If you think you could enjoy helping, please contact the Projects Director.

Estate Work

We help maintain the woodland areas on site, many of which have been planted by Friend volunteers.

Join in the Fun.

Contact the Projects Director at the Friends' Office to talk about these or other volunteering activities which interest you.

Or you can contact the Friends by post at this address:

The Friends' Office.
Beamish The North of England Open Air Museum.
Beamish.
Co. Durham.
DH9 ORG.
England.

Telephone in the UK: 0191 3701104 (Ansaphone).

Please note that the Friends' office is staffed by volunteers, mostly at weekends, and very often you will be asked to leave a message on the ansaphone. We do listen to these messages. So please don't put the phone down (just this once).

Text Equivalent of the Photograph on This Page.

Screen Reader version for people who cannot see the image for what ever reason.

Photograph: Man on a Quadricycle.

The photograph shows a man in 1913 costume riding a four wheeled motorised
cycle called a quadricycle. It is a very sunny day as he rides from right
to left on a country road. The background shows green fields and a fence in
the distance horizontal across the picture at mid height. In front of this
a larger fence that stands at the right side of the road.

The man astride the quadricycle has a white cap and brown jacket with brown plus four trousers. He wears brown shoes. There is a lot of deep shadow and this hides details of his face.

His hands rest on the handlebars of the black frame of the bike. It has white wheels and individual small black mudguards. The road in the foreground is very light coloured and there are strong shadows cast on the ground in front and the near site of the bike. TEXT.